To express the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should not transfer any unit from a military installation that is closed or realigned until adequate facilities and infrastructure necessary to support such unit and quality of life requirements are ready at the receiving location.

1. Adds SEC. 2887. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON LIMITATION ON TRANSFER OF UNITS FROM CLOSED AND REALIGNED MILITARY INSTALLATIONS PENDING READINESS OF RECEIVING LOCATIONS at the end of subtitle D of title XXVIII

   Adds a section

   In S. 1042 · Public Print

   (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should not transfer any unit from a military installation closed or realigned due to the relocation of forces under the Integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy or the 2005 round of defense base closure and realignment until adequate facilities and infrastructure necessary to support the unit's mission and quality of life requirements for military families are ready for use at the receiving location.

   Inserted: SEC. 2887. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON LIMITATION ON TRANSFER OF UNITS FROM CLOSED AND REALIGNED MILITARY INSTALLATIONS PENDING READINESS OF RECEIVING LOCATIONS.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--

   Inserted: (1) The Commission on Review of Overseas Military Facility Structure of the United States, also known as the Overseas Basing Commission, transmitted a report to the President and Congress on August 15, 2005, that discussed considerations for the return to the United States of up to 70,000 service personnel and 100,000 family members and civilian employees from overseas garrisons.

   Inserted: (2) The 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission released a report on September 8, 2005, to the President that assessed the closure and realignment decisions of the Department of Defense, which would affect 26,830 military personnel positions.

   Inserted: (3) Both of these reports expressed concerns that massive movements of units, service personnel, and families may disrupt unit operational effectiveness and the quality of life for family members if not carried out with adequate planning and resources.

   Inserted: (4) The 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission, in its decision to close Fort Monmouth, included a provision requiring the Secretary of Defense to provide a report that "movement of organizations, functions, or activities from Fort Monmouth to Aberdeen Proving Ground will be accomplished without disruption of their support to the Global War on Terrorism or other critical contingency operations, and that safeguards exist to ensure that necessary redundant capabilities are put in place to mitigate potential degradation of such support, and to ensure maximum retention of critical workforce".

   Inserted: (5) The Overseas Basing Commission found that "base closings at home along with the return of yet additional masses of service members and dependents from overseas will have major impact on local communities and the quality of life that can be expected. Movements abroad from established bases into new locations, or into locations already in use that will be put under pressure by increases in populations, will impact on living conditions."

   Inserted: (6) The Overseas Basing Commission notes that the four most critical elements of quality of life as they relate to restructuring of the global defense posture are housing, military child education, healthcare, and service member and family services.

   Inserted: (7) The Overseas Basing Commission recommended that "planners must take a 'last day-first day' approach to the movement of units and families from one location to another", meaning that they must maintain the support infrastructure for personnel until the last day they are in place and must have the support infrastructure in place on the first day troops arrive in the new location.

   Inserted: (8) The Overseas Basing Commission further recommended that it is "imperative that the 'last day-first day' approach should be taken whether the movement is abroad from one locale to another, from overseas to the United States, or from one base in CONUS [the continental United States] to yet another as a result of base realignment and closures".

   Inserted: (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should not transfer any unit from a military installation closed or realigned due to the relocation of forces under the Integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy or the 2005 round of defense base closure and realignment until adequate facilities and infrastructure necessary to support the unit's mission and quality of life requirements for military families are ready for use at the receiving location.

   Original wording

   At the end of subtitle D of title XXVIII, add the following:

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As printed